Carrier
by Thozmp Corris
Summary: AU: Mutation is considered a virus, and one you can be arrested for...
1. Holding

A/N: If this seems familiar it is because I'm using an idea that the author known as Vine has started and am using with permission.

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evolution, any of the characters and/or settings and anything I have not come up with myself.

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Heightened Ability Virus; it's only a virus in the same sense as Autism or Cystic Fibrosis. Yet, it is something for which a person can be arrested for, which is how I, Dennis Cooper, ended up in a special holding cell.

Because some people with HAV have destructive abilities which can be harmful to the public at large, the government decided that the best option was to take all the people with HAV and hold them in special "controlled environments." Of course these people were still citizens and as such they would only be arrested if they were a threat to the public; this meant you were safe so long as the carrier stayed in their home **at all times**. Unfortunately, some carriers don't even know they have HAV until a random sweep team comes along and scans them. This is how I was 'caught.'

Now I'm awaiting a trial, although why they put up the charade I didn't know, because the moment someone tested positive for HAV they were guilty. While my parents are supportive, they have their own problems to deal with, including a failing business and grandparents that wanted my parents to disown me; so while I didn't see them often, he at least knew they weren't against me.

What sucked though, was that I'm a c-0, which means I'm HAV positive, but the gene isn't active, in other words, no powers. That's right, I get arrested, put in a special holding cell, and am about to be sent away for life, with no compensation. I wouldn't mind turning blue and fuzzy if it meant I get something for having my life taken away, but I get nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

I've serious doubts about my court appointed lawyer, I think he gets depressed about all these HAV cases. I feel for the man, I really do; he loses every single time, and in all honesty, there isn't a thing he can do.

So, day after day, awaiting my 'trial' I've yet to get to know some of my fellow inmates, mostly because they're dealing with problems of their own. The girl in the cell next to mine has been screaming at the top of her lungs, or so I gather, but I'm not sure because her cell is sound proof, probably something to do with her powers. I've tried to communicate with her but it isn't working.

The guy across from me is a big guy, a very **big** guy. I think he said his name was Fred, and he seems a nice enough guy, but I can tell that the place is getting to him. If it weren't for the neutralizing cuffs, he'd probably be able to bust through the wall, and would in a heart beat. My last neighbor doesn't seem to speak a word of English, or at all. I've tried to talk with him but all I get is staring. He's an even bigger mystery then the girl.

It was during one of many conversations I've had with Fred, because talking about anything gets my mind off of being in these cells, when I noticed something.

"Hey, Fred" I interrupted him.

"Yeah?" In the following silence I strained to listen, "What is it Cooper?"

"Do you hear that?"

Fred strained to listen, but after a moment looked confused, and I know he doesn't like to be confused, "I don't hear anything."

"I know, it's quieter like something's…been …turned…" I realized what was missing, the hum of the neutralizing cuffs. "Fred bust us outta here."

"With pleasure." With a mighty heave he knocked open his cell. When the girl saw this she smiled, took a deep breath and screamed again, this time there was a difference; her cell started shaking then exploded outward. Everyone caught on and the jail brake was in full swing, but just as Fred was about to open my cell, all hell broke loose.


	2. Breakout

Before I continue with my harrowing tale, I feel I should remind everyone that the place where I and my fellow mutants are being held, is actually a holding compound for those who are waiting to go through the parody of due process that is our trials. The actual imprisonment is at special internment camps. Not to say that the people who designed this place were stupid, in fact they were very smart about it. The cells where my fellow mutants and I were staying is in fact in the center of the whole damned building, just in case something like a jail break were to happen. This means that all the guards in the building can easily converge on all of us.

I say all this, because that's exactly what happened.

Fred had just ripped my cell open, and I took a step out only for the door outside to suddenly get kicked open and twenty armed guards to come pouring in. Now I'm not used to having a gun pointed at me, much less twenty assault rifles, so I sort of panicked, and at the top of my lungs, yelled, "Any of you moves a muscle, I'll make your heads cave in." all the while thinking, _what the hell am I doing?!_

I know the guards fully expected to be the ones making threats, and I was fairly certain at least some of them knew what powers were floating around in the holding cells, but my threat still caused a stand off. I could only hope that I didn't give away my lie; I was never good at bluffing.

While I was staring down twenty armed guards and hoping I didn't piss myself, others were taking advantage of my distraction to break down the surrounding walls and run; unfortunately my luck ran out at that point.

"I recognize him," One of the smarter guards spoke up suddenly, "He's the c-0!"

I, for my part, chose to swear, close my eyes and await the hail of gunfire that was my fate; of course when that didn't happen, or a gun butt to the head, I opened my eyes a crack to see that all twenty guards collapsed on the floor, still alive, but no more trouble.

_You're pretty brave for a c-0._ I knew this wasn't my thought, mostly because I don't consider myself brave. _So are you going to help me out?_ I took me a second to realize that it was coming from cell neighbor number three, the one who didn't speak.

"Fred?" I looked to the big guy beside me, he nodded and opened the telepath's cell, while I decided that an assault rifle would make a good going away present, and to hell if I didn't actually know how to use one, at least I could threaten with it.

"So…uh…"

_Call me Mystic._

"Right, Mystic. As much as I like it here, I say we run." I motioned towards the hole in the back that the other mutants have made, and started running along with Fred and Mystic. "So I'm guessing you took them out."

_Yes._

"Thanks for that, but do you know what's happening?"

_Unfortunately, no, but we should be cautious._

"Why's that?" Fred asked from behind.

_Because the facility is still under siege._

Now that he mentioned it I could faintly here what sounded like a war going on. "Is there a safe way out?"

_I do not know._

As I said before, the holding cells are in the middle of the building, and while difficult to navigate the way out, it was much easier to do thanks to the lack of guards, who I could only guess were busy with the mini-war going on outside. Several minutes and a few close calls later brought us to an outside wall, I knew this because of the little, barred windows at the top.

Fred was about to try and smash his way through the wall, before I stopped him, "Don't bother, it won't work."

Fred gave me a confused look, as did Mystic, "Huh? Why not?"

I tapped the wall with my fist, "This place is meant to hold in super-strong people like you, plus it is probably meant to keep out other super-strongs as well, that means very durable outside walls."

"So…how'd the others get out?"

I turned away from the wall, hoping to see another path we could take, "I don't know, but I hope we can find it soon." I was about to head off when I got a gut feeling, like something was about to happen. I shouldn't have stood there like an idiot because the wall behind me exploded toward me. I felt an intense pain, but thankfully I fell unconscious before it went one too long.

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A/N: Comments and suggestions always welcome, flames are acceptable if you can give actual feedback on what it is I need to do to improve the story, and I don't mean things like, "Make it better!" Also I'm at a sticking point about Cooper's power, namely I'm not sure what it should be, so any ideas on that please send in an e-mail or PM. Thank you. 


	3. C oh?

There is a difference between being HAV positive and being X-gene active; it's similar to the difference between HIV and AIDS, having the first only means that the second will happen sometime. C-0s, like myself, are HAV positive, but not X-gene active, thus no power. The thing is no one knows what triggers the X-gene, whether it's time, situation, environment, or anything at all; it's supposedly possible to be HAV positive but not x-gene active all your life, but I don't think it's happened yet.

I'm not sure what happened after I blacked out in the holding facility, but when I woke up, three things brought themselves to my attention: 1) I wasn't dead, 2) I wasn't in pain (this had me mildly confused), and 3) I was sleeping on a cot. I knew that last one because years in the Boy Scouts makes it easy to identify the feel of canvas as it's stretched over a wooden frame.

I was awake, but I kept my eyes closed, because opening my eyes meant acknowledging the world, and after my recent experiences, I didn't want to do that just yet. Unfortunately for me that wasn't really an option.

"Mr. Cooper, it's good to see you awake." The voice sounded, cultured I guess would be the word, almost as if it were meant to be reassuring. I tried to continue to feign unconsciousness though. "Please, Mr. Cooper, do at least open your eyes."

I opened my eyes a crack to see an older man sitting to my left, bald as a cue ball. I wondered if perhaps I'd been recaptured by the Super Being Control Unit, the mutant police. It was possible, seeing as I didn't know if I had escaped or not.

"Actually, Mr. Cooper, you are among friends." The Gentleman spoke up. I was reluctant to believe that, but he continued anyway, "Sometimes it is a good thing to remain skeptical, it lets you see things others would miss, but this time it is the truth. The reason you aren't severely injured is thanks to the ability of a young man, Josh Foley, whose remarkable talent is in fact to heal others; as for not feeling any residual pain, I'm currently preventing it."

"Um…thank you?"

"You're quite welcome. To continue, as you have guessed by this time you are in one of several mutant camps, I'll refrain from disclosing the location if you don't mind. You are safe here, and as I said before, among friends."

I gave the man a rather rueful grin, "I'd ask if you could be sure I'm not a spy, but then you'd have already read my mind."

"Actually I don't normally invade the privacy of my fellow mutants."

"And how do you know that I'm actually a mutant and not a human spy that's been placed as a c-0?"

The man gave a knowing grin, "While the government has tried to place spies among the captured, disguised as inactivated mutants, you no longer are one."

This caught me off guard, "What?"

"You no longer qualify as an inactive, a c-0." The confusion was undoubtedly all over my face, but the gentleman just smiled, "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Charles Xavier." He extended his right hand for a handshake, and I reciprocated the gesture part way, I stopped short as I saw my arm.

I knew it was my arm, because it moved when I wanted it to; I knew it was my arm because I could feel it in a strangely distant sort of way. I just did not recognize it as my arm, because it was lacking certain distinctive features, namely, all the skin and flesh.

I beheld a skeletal arm, noting but bone, nothing to connect it to the rest of my body, nothing to connect the bones to each other, and yet it still moved as if it were one piece. Slowly, hesitantly, I reached with my left arm, still all flesh and blood, and removed a finger bone. I held it a good foot, foot and a half away from the rest off my right arm, but it seemed as if it were unaffected. Letting go off the finger bone, it zipped back into place, as if it hadn't been moved at all.

I continued to stare at the strange new appendage, then something occurred to me, and I frowned, looking at the gentleman beside my cot, Mr. Xavier, I frowned a little longer and said, "I should be more freaked out by this."

Xavier grinned, "Yes, that would also be my doing, I felt it best that you didn't go into hysterics among the other injured." For the first time, I looked at my surroundings, and saw that not only was mine not the only cot, but I wasn't the only one in the area. It seemed to be in a large canvas tent, one big enough to comfortable house several dozen cots, as well as the occupants, and most of them were full.

"Good call then." Feeling slightly embarrassed, I engrossed myself in the examination of my altered limb briefly before lying back in my cot, "I think I'll get some more rest." I closed my eyes, and kept them closed until Xavier left. I knew he knew I was still awake, but I was glad he let me be, because I was in shock, and all I could think was, _This is for real._

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A/N: Comments and suggestions always welcome, flames are acceptable if you can give actual feedback on what it is I need to do to improve the story, and I don't mean things like, "Make it better!" 


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